How's this for patent happy -- this morning a grand total of 14 applications from folks at Apple were published, covering everything from "cable structure for preventing tangling" to an "adaptive audio feedback system and method."



From Engadget:

Most of the filings are nothing terribly exciting -- though the tangle-free headphones, involving a series of alternately stiffer and more flexible cores, is a welcome upgrade to the standard iPhone headset, which is usually reduced to an unmanageable ball of knots after just a few careless tosses in a bag. A number of other headphone makers have already taken similar steps to keep cords under control.

  Apple goes patent application crazy with 14 über dull filings, hinge manufacturers tremble with fear